New store offers fresh kicks at affordable prices

Janeal Downs
Staff Writer

Operators of a newly-opened shoe store hope to bring Richmond and VCU community exclusive shoes for a variety of budgets.

Wavy Kickz opened their newest location at 804 W. Broad St. on Labor Day, offering to buy, sell and trade shoes provided by their customers. Co-owner and VCU BrandCenter student Adeel Shams said the store brings “a little artsy feeling” to West Broad Street.

“I know the market of shoes in Richmond,” Shams said. “It’s popular and especially a location on campus (brings) a lot of foot traffic.”

Shams said Wavy Kickz has new shoes every day and offers college discounts for students. He said there can be shoes as low as $30 and as high as $250.

Shams, who received his VCU undergraduate degree in marketing this May, saw the building was for sale and called the owners. He then connected with the founder of Wavy Kickz to start the second front of the store by putting their own money together and receiving help from his family. 

“VCU loves shoes,” Shams said. “I think (the store is) going to increase more awareness of shoes and make Richmond more of a shoe capital.”

The first Wavy Kickz store was opened in May 2014 by owner and founder Raysean Edwards. Edwards initially started Wavy Kickz online before opening the first storefront.

“I’ve pretty much always have been into sneakers, I knew it was a market,” Edwards said. “I used to buy sneakers so I know some sneakers are hard to find.”

Not only does Edwards hope to expand the store to other areas but he also wants to host a seminar educating people on how to start and run a franchise. He and Marcus Kelley, another co-owner of the store first met because they both commonly bought sneakers, Edwards said.

Kelley said Wavy Kickz offers people a place to trade old shoes for something new, and a place to find shoes which retail locations have stopped selling. With almost 150,000 social media followers, Kelley said they have an expansive network to a large variety of shoes. 

“A lot of these shoes are high in demand, but we have certain connects for where we can get them after your local store sells out,” Kelley said.

Junior math and computer science major at VCU, Robel Solomon, attended the Broad Street store’s grand opening. Solomon said a friend told him about the store and encouraged him to follow the store’s Instagram page.

“The store was pretty good,” Solomon said. “I like how it was organized, like you can usually see what type of shoes they have and it was easy to find a pair you liked, it’s very innovative.”

Solomon said rather than going to the store everytime he plans to buy shoes, he will go on Wavy Kickz’s Instagram page to view pictures of the shoes they have available. 

In the future, Edwards and Shams plan to expand beyond streetwear to include a wide variety of shoes, including running and hiking apparel. Wavy Kickz is located at 804 W. Broad St. and in Chesterfield Towne Center.